Bernstein’s birthday and his legacy

Composer/Conductor Leonard Bernstein

Today Google has a charming and ingenious homage to Leonard Bernstein, with cartoons of him in action. It is a good occasion to ponder the role of artists in our society–who gets to leave a mark in the culture, and is it always the one who eschews popular taste and sentiment for high academic complexity…or vice versa. I say, great music is not in the style…